Egyptian national security officials have discovered a local “terrorist cell” whose members received training in Syria, the Interior Ministry said on Saturday.

A statement on the ministry’s Facebook page said the cell members returned to Egypt after receiving training on carrying out terrorist attacks.

According to the statement, those who were arrested confessed to receiving military and fitness training in Syria, as well as learning how to prepare explosive devices.

Egypt’s security forces are currently battling a militant insurgency in North Sinai that has been present for the last decade but has drastically increased its attacks in the past year after the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.

While the attacks have mainly targeted security personnel in the Sinai Peninsula, they have also spread to Cairo and surrounding cities, with citizens killed and injured in the violence as well.

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